Days out & free events

The following correction was printed in the Observer's For the record column, Sunday June 22 2008

Below we said the BBC does free backstage tours at its buildings all over the UK. In fact, charges apply for tours in London of TV Centre and Broadcasting House. To book, telephone 0870 603 0304; bbc.co.uk/tours gives more information and lists other tours, some of which are free.

Simple saver

£46

Families can save nearly £50 on the cost of a trip to a theme park just by planning ahead. Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures, Drayton Manor, Legoland and Thorpe Park all offer cheaper online rates if you book in advance.

Alternatively, a quick Google search for discounted tickets for the theme park you want to go to can almost halve the cost. For example, Lastminute.com has been selling Legoland tickets for £19.50 for adults and £17.50 for kids, compared to gate prices of £34 and £26 respectively.

Advanced saving tips

1. Do something for free

Since 2001, all national museums such as the National Railway Museum in York, plus myriad art galleries including the Tates Modern and Britain, have been free to the public. Of course, London also boasts those two neighbouring magnets for children in South Kensington, the Science Museum (sciencemuseum.org.uk) and Natural History Museum, with its extraordinary animatronic dinosaur displays (nhm.ac.uk). For more ideas, visit familydayoutuk.co.uk and ask for its 50 Free Days Out report to be emailed to you.

2. Sign up for a discount website

A year-long membership of the website daysoutuk.com costs £14.99. But for that, subscribers get more than £2,000-worth of discount vouchers for anything from theme parks to historic castles to wildlife parks.

Recent offers have included £10 off a family ticket to Cadbury World in Birmingham, two-for-one entry at Ramsgate Maritime Museum, and 10% off entry to any of the four Diggerland adventure parks (who could ask for more?). But seriously, it's only worth making this initial investment if you are sure you will make regular trips to these kinds of places.

3. Take the train

If you live in London or the south-east of England, daysoutguide.co.uk lists more than 100 attractions, shows and restaurants were you can get a two-for-the-price of one voucher if you travel by train the same day. The London Dungeon, Madam Tussauds, the Canterbury Tales and Dickens World in Chatham are all on the list. You need to register online to get the vouchers and present them at the attraction together with a valid train ticket.

The website also gives details of GroupSave train tickets where three or four adults can travel off-peak for the price of two and children can travel for £1 each.

4. ... and a packed lunch

Whichever attraction you visit, chances are that lunch in the cafe or restaurant will be expensive. Take a packed lunch. If you have children, give each child a small amount of money to spend while they are out and teach them how to stick to a budget. In the long run, it could turn out to be one of the biggest savings you make ...

5. Be in a studio audience

You could be in the audience for your favourite TV show - tickets are given away free by the broadcasters. Current BBC shows for which you can get tickets include Later With Jools Holland and The Jason Byrne show: visit bbc.co.uk/whatson/tickets

If you're in the north-east, get tickets for ITV Granada recordings by emailing audience.relations@granadamedia.com, while applausestore.com is a one-stop shop for tickets for programmes such as The X Factor and Big Brother.

The BBC also does free backstage tours at its buildings all over the UK including TV Centre - visit bbc.co.uk/tours/tours.shtml for more information.

Nice little earner

Loyalty schemes such as Tesco Clubcard reward shoppers with points. Although the points can be cashed in to get store vouchers, a more lucrative way to work the system is to swap the vouchers for Clubcard Deals Tokens. Every £2.50 of Clubcard vouchers can be exchanged for £10 worth of Deals Tokens, which can be used as cash to pay for a whole range of offers, including entry to theme parks or stately homes, and for holidays and hotel stays. Similarly, Nectar points can be collected at various retailers and the points spent on entry to attractions. You generally collect two Nectar points for every £1 spent, and one adult entry to Warwick Castle costs 2,500 points.

Planet saver

Cornwall's Eden Project is a suitably green day out at which to appreciate the full bio-diversity of our planet while the kids scamper around the trails and play areas. Admission is £15 for adults and £5 for children (under-fives free), but groups can get a discount by booking in advance at edenproject.com. And if you nominate your admission as a gift through the Gift Aid scheme, it entitles you to free entry for a year.

Alternatively, Bewilderwood in Norfolk claims to be the UK's first environmentally friendly adventure park. Spread over 50 acres of marshland and woodland, it boasts treehouses, zipwires, jungle bridges, "crocklebogs" (whatever they are) and no pesticides. The wood used is sustainable and the food organic; admission is £10 for over-fives or £45 for a family (bewilderwood.co.uk).

Quick stats

£130 The cost of taking a family of four to a theme park, according to Which?

5.5m Number of visits to the UK's top free tourist attraction in 2007, Blackpool Pleasure Beach (source: Visit Britain)

3.25m Estimated number of visits to the UK's top paid-for tourist attractions, the London Eye and the Xscape indoor snow centre in Castleford

210,000 Number of people who attended last year's free "Fringe Sunday" in Edinburgh